Napping (or not) at Daycare

[cs_content][cs_section parallax="false" style="margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;"][cs_row inner_container="true" marginless_columns="false" style="margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;"][cs_column fade="false" fade_animation="in" fade_animation_offset="45px" fade_duration="750" type="1/1" style="padding: 0px;"][cs_text]A few weeks ago, I was making small talk with one of my son’s daycare teachers and mentioned that I’m a sleep consultant.She laughed in my face.“But your son hates to sleep!” she exclaimed, clearly confused why anyone would ever want my sleep advice, much less pay for it.I admit, my son refuses to nap at daycare. With me, he naps like a champ. But in a collective setting, he prefers to make playful fart noises in the hopes of waking up the other kids. The staff has tried multiple solutions, but he’s stubborn. When I pick him up at 5pm, he’s a hot mess.A lot of my clients tell me that their children have issues sleeping at daycare. When I admit that I'm in the same boat, they give a sigh of relief. We can't force our kids to sleep (we’re not even there!). But what we can do is to troubleshoot as soon as they’re back in our care.What’s a weary parent to do!? If your child doesn't nap enough (or at all) during the day, it’s important to get him to bed as early as possible. Not getting enough daytime sleep isn't ideal, but we live in an imperfect world. An early bedtime will help him to catch up on missed sleep and hopefully avoid accumulating sleep debt over time. (Parents of babies and younger toddlers who don’t sleep well at daycare should also consider offering an extra nap on weekends).Originally published in the Bonne Nuit Baby newsletter. Want monthly sleep tips? Sign up here.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

Baby, ToddlerHadley Seward